THE COSMOS \ 



P. A. ZARING 



1 




Class ^_S^54S 

Rook >A^7 C6 
Copyright N^_A3_il_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE COSMOS 



BY 



P. A. ZARING, M. D. 




etVeritadi 



BOSTON 

THE POET LORE COMPANY 
1911 



Copyright, 1910, by P. A. Zaring, M. t). 
All Rights Reserved 



The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 



©C!,A278UF>: 



THE COSMOS 

Part One 

I 

O, holy Sisters of the hallowed Mount, 

Who erst in Helicon's most sacred fount 

Were wont to lave your bodies, strangely fair. 

And deck your lovely forms with garlands rare, 

And pour your carols on the ambient air, 

And sway your limbs, and flaunt your flowing hair, 

In measured mazes exquisite-complete, 

To symphonies your own, divinely sweet, 

Your nimble fingers strike the heavenly lyre. 

While gods and mortals wonder and admire. 

n 

Come from your ancient pedestals on high. 
Touch now your harps and rend the veil of sky, 
Or whatsoever else may intervene 
(These dreary years) this world and yours between; 
For ages like eternities have lagged 
Most tediously, but ultimately dragged 
Their weary lengths away, since any strain 
Resembling aught the Parnassian refrain. 
Hast blest our waiting ears. So hear me now. 
The humblest of the myriads who bow 
Before your shrine ; and give to me to know 
How came all things that are just thus and so; 
The planets, moons, suns, systems, vastly great; 
Stupendous past the power to comtemplate; 



4 THE COSMOS 

And how our planet ever came to be 
Thus fitted, stocked, and furnished as we see ; 
How life inanimate, and animate, 
Obtained existence in its present state ; 
And how our race has happened to aspire 
To what it is, no lower and no higher. 



Part Two 



The prime Existence was Necessity, 
With whatso necessarily obtained 
Of substances extant, or now extinct, 
Of essence which could not originate. 
Was then existing all in harmony. 
And whatsoe'er conditions must result 
From such Exisitences thus harmonized, 
Resulted with their opportunities. 

II 

All this is Nature. Then there was a time 

When unaffected Nature only was. 

So it is now, and so it shall remain, 

Inhabiting the future and the past, 

Cotemporary with eternity. 

A dual Nature — two fold — two in one. 

Comprising in its essence Matter — Law. 

Ill 

But there has been a time, long, long agone 

(If time indeed we deem it can have been) 

Ere time assumed its modern character 

Of being but a portion measured off 

Of all duration, present, future, past, 

And by the revolutions estimated, 

Of some stupendous orb through heaven flying, 

Or later still by the chronometer, 



6 THE COSMOS 

Invented by man's ingenuity, 
Became the all important scale by which 
The dates and periods of all events 
And all existences, or on the earth, 
Or in the starry heavens are compared. 

IV 

At such a time in the eternal past. 

Long ere the earth, or sun, or any star, 

Shot blazing through immeasurable space, 

Existed in the ample field of space. 

Throughout the dark mysterious realm of space, 

The great Duality of Matter — Law, 

Eternal, coetemal Matter — Law. 



Conjointly had they occupied all space, 

All through and during the eternal past. 

Throughout the all imponderable void. 

But what they to each other erst had been, 

Or what by mutual consent they did. 

Or what produced, or wrought, to be again 

Demolished or transformed as they should will. 

As was permitted them by time and space. 

And privilege, and power, infinite, 

Concerneth this our revelation not. 

Which has to do with events subsequent. 

VI 

Now, at the epoch here adverted to — 
The all important epoch of the past. 
Whence the inception of the universe 



THE COSMOS 

With all contained therein are said to date, 
Law was essentially the same as now, 
Immutable and irresistible, 
It was, and is, and ever more shall be, 
The same forever and forever more. 

VII 

Not so however his eternal mate. 
His coetemal consort. Matter, which 
We now behold as solid, fluid, gas, 
But more attenuated many fold 
Than any vapor that is known to man, 
It occupied and filled unbounded Space. 

VIII 

Now Law and Matter with each other strove, 

And Chaos was produced and reigned supreme. 

Then Law and Matter harmonized again. 

And Evolution radiant as the morn. 

And cheerful as the vernal spring, came forth, 

The issue necessary, certain, sure. 

Which must succeed to such a harmony. 



IX 



And Evolution all the germs produced 

Of what the universe now is and holds. 

And all these germs she nurtured patiently, 

Forseeing order, beauty, harmony, 

Which afterwards should fill the spacious void 

Wherein Confusion long had dwelt alone. 



THE COSMOS 



And Evolution saw the void of space 
Filled with the most attenuated gas, 
And that the gas was formed of atoms small, 
And atoms unto atoms were inclined, 
Though other atoms still repulsive were, 
And hence that gases many must obtain. 

XI 

And Evolution differentiated 

The gases from the gases, "and 'twas so". 

For Evolution saw that atoms all 

Attracted or repelled reciproc'ly. 

That Law was cognizant of atoms small, 

Determining their actions one and all. 

XII 

And Evolution said "Let gases mix 

And mingle with each other and compound." 

Then gas with gas combined until as such 

Some disappeared, and in their place were found 

Their products, ashes, water, stone and smoke. 

And light, and heat, and electricity, 

Were generated. Force was manifest ; 

And erstwhile latent Nature now revived. 

So out of Chaos Cosmos was evolved. 

XIII 

And Evolution, which is Natures soul, 
Beheld the Universe that it was good ; 
Because the nebula which theretofore 
Had filled the regions of unbounded Space, 



THE COSMOS 9 

Was rent asunder now, and formed again 

In numbers infinite of nebulae, 

Of such imponderable masses each 

That their dimensions seemed unlimited ; 

And these strewn broadcast through the gloomy 

void 
Of what were elsewise dark and empty Space. 

XIV 

Now be it known that no new laws were made. 

But by the changed conditions which obtained, 

Laws thitherto not recognized, became 

Now manifest, as each great nebula, 

From all the universal mass cast oflf, 

And separated from its fellows all, 

Asserted its autonomy forthwith. 

And now appreciated its own force innate, 

Which thereunto had not been manifest. 

XV 

Now all its parts toward the center tended. 
Each particle approached and nearer pressed 
By those adjacent, while the more remote 
In turn approximated those in front. 
And all together and with one accord. 
Toward the common center forward pressed, 
And harder pressed until the filmy cloud 
Became condensed into a fluid mass. 

XVI 

Meanwhile great changes subsequently known 
As chemical, occurred, producing heat. 
And light intense until behold all Space 



lo THE COSMOS 

Begemmed with glittering spheres most beautiful, 
Of which our glorious Sun, resplendent orb, 
Was one, and not the least, nor greatest yet. 
Among the flaming myriads which shone. 
Although beyond old Neptune's orbit wide, 
His great circumference extended round. 

XVH 

Now, while by chemical affinity. 
Internally was generated heat 
More fervid than the mind can comprehend. 
Or art of man can demonstrate withal, 
The frigidness of empty space around. 
For radiation furnished ample room. 
From off the blazing surface of the Sun — 
The Glowing surface of the burning Sun — 
There radiated ceaseless floods of heat 
Which constantly the equilibrium 
Of atoms interrupted till the orb 
Throughout a motion rotary assumed. 

xvni 

The more and more this pondrous mass condensed 
The more intense became th' internal heat, 
And urged more rapidly the motion round 
Upon its axis of the blazing sphere. 
Until the surface portion far remote, 
More rare, more cool, more sluggish in its course. 
Detached itself in one stupendous band 
And plodded on its independent way. 

XIX 

Meanwhile the Sun somewhat disburdened, whirled 
With its velocity augmented now. 
Proportionally as its size was less. 



THE COSMOS 11 

XX 

Condensing still its motion still increased 
Until in course of time were other bands 
Detached, and cast asunder while the Sun 
Withdrew its shining surface farther back, 
And left those massive rings to play their rounds. 

XXI 

Now when the rings were detached on thiswise. 

Each one disrupted in its weakest part, 

And onward still revolving in its course, 

A point somewhere within its volume found 

Of feasible utility to form 

The nucleus of a prospective sphere. 

XXII 

Such central point of force, established once. 
All parts and portions of the massive belt. 
Throughout its vast extent, all recognized ; 
And gathering around with one accord 
Transformed each ring into a ponderous orb. 

XXIII 

While every atom centerward inclined, 
The whole revolving in its orbit still, 
The growing center kept its even course. 
While all those particles which led the van 
Were much restrained in their prodigious sweep. 
And those preceding most immediately 
The sweeping center were attracted back. 
While from the rear the atoms forward rushed 



12 THE COSMOS 

With that momentum borrowed from the Sun, 
While erst they were connected with that orb, 
And waltzed around in ceaseless mazy whirl. 

XXIV 

And now their speed augmented by the force 
Of their own growing center forward move. 
Their tendency to flee the central Sun 
Leads them toward the surface most remote 
Of this young planet, forming, growing, now. 
Thus at a tangent striking the new sphere, 
Retaining still their force centrifugal. 
They ever and forever forward press. 
And whirl the new made planet round and round. 

XXV 

Thus turning on their axes day by day, 

Still sweeping ever onward round the Sun, 

Retaining and elaborating heat 

And light intense as had their parent star. 

They glowed and dazzled like so many suns — 

And suns they were, diminutive in size. 

But now, exhausted all their surface heat. 

As planets they have since been recognized. 

Of which our Earth is one, and here our story lies. 



Part Three 

I 

Behold the glory of the effulgent Sun, 

When unobscured by clouds he treads the sky, 

And casts his dazzling beams athwart the gloom 

Of cold and dreary space spread all round, 

Or draws his gorgeous mantle round about, 

And sits in Majesty upon his throne, 

Whose golden splendors light the Occident, 

In that delightful hour which intervenes 

Between the cheerful day and calm of night, 

Before Apollo in his golden boat 

Has made his exit on his voyage back 

Toward his palace in the Orient; 

While all the lesser heavenly lights go forth 

To do their little best till his return; 

While Darkness noiselessly comes creeping In 

And spreads his mantle like a pall around, 

And for his own the world abandoned claims, 

Precipitately to retreat again 

Before the King of Day on his return. 

II 

While basking in his cheerful radiance 
That falls upon us like the smiles of Heaven, 
The which they were accounted long ago. 
Our admiration rises more and more. 
Until we think perhaps that we adore 
The King of Day much like his devotees 
For in the long ago when worship meant 
The impulse of the soul for beings loved. 



14 THE COSMOS 

III 

Such was the radiant beauty of our Earth 
When, in the brilliance of her youthful charms, 
She vied with all her sister orbs which shone, 
And with her bright companions in accord. 
In glittering robes which dazzled as they moved. 
Went waltzing round and round the golden Sun. 

IV 

Meanwhile the frigidness of empty space 
Through which the solar system ever moved, 
Drew lavishly upon the heat supply. 
While clouds of vapor ocean-like in volume, 
From out the heated, molten mass ascended. 
These high and higher soared, far up and up. 
Into the lighter regions of the air 
Which then, as now, was poured all round the 

Earth, 
And in its circumambient embrace. 
Enclosed the shining orb on every side. 



These vapors were composed of molecules. 
Each heavier than the air which it displaced. 
Until distended by the energy 
Of heat when they ascended like balloons. 

VI 

These humid clouds soared far above the Earth, 
Upon the buoyant air with heat surcharged, 
Which radiated from the flaming Earth, 



THE COSMOS IS 

Till stratum above stratum supervened 
Of clouds umbrageous densely spread around, 
So that the light intense which brightly shone 
Upon the glowing surface of the Earth 
Unequal was to penetrate the gloom 
Which supervened above the firmament. 

VII 

Nor could the beams which streamed down from 

the Sun 
Break through the liquid rampart thus opposed 
Against their piercing rays which must have been 
All but resistless in their fiery course. 

VIII 

Now be it known that far above the Earth, 
(Although your course should be toward the Sun) 
The heat produced by electricity 
Which, streaming from the Sun in endless floods, 
And meeting counter currents from the Earth 
Blends and commingles generating heat 
Which fills the lower strata of the air. 
This heat diminishes as you ascend 
Until the frigidness of Space is gained. 

IX 

Then in the neutral plains of upper air, 
Where all the flood of heat which rose on high 
From out the flaming planet's fervid mass 
Was met and tempered by the cold of Space, 
Where neither heat nor cold could quite displace 



i6 THE COSMOS 

The other from the neutral altitude, 

But both togethter dwelt in harmony, 

And mutually ruled the elements — 

'Twas there the dark, impervious, humid clouds 

Obtained a state of equilibrium. 

X 

But ever and anon their balance swerved, 

When they would sway upon the heated air. 

Then, burnt again into a vapor rare, 

Be tost up higher than they were before. 

Or when a colder wave of higher air 

Bore down upon the clouds with moisture pent, 

Compressed more closely by the chilly wave, 

The molecules of water coalesced 

And, formed in drops more heavy than the air. 

Their now diminished volume Earthward bent, 

And down they fell in copious floods of rain, 

XI 

These torrents meeting the ascending heat. 
Were scorched to vapor ere they reached the Earth, 
And hurled back to the bosom of the clouds. 
Eliminating heat from out the Earth, 
Although to Earth the torrents never reached. 
Again and yet again those torrents fell 
Again and yet again to reascend. 
Each time reladened with caloric heat 
Which they gave up to unrequiting space. 

XII 

Incessantly the conflict thus was waged 
Between Caloric and Frigidity, 



THE COSMOS 17 

While revolutions numberless were told 
Of Earth far round the fast receding Sun. 

XIII 

Meanwhile, although unheard, broke on the air 
The loud resounding crash, peal upon peal, 
Of the artiller}' of the Elements, 
Which bellowed forth the most terrific blasts. 
And shook the atmosphere with horror dread. 

XIV 

Reiterated lightenings from the sky 

Shot blazing through the sable canopy 

Of awful clouds which by the heat were pent 

And piled above the heated firmament. 

XV 

Sublime the scenes, appalling were the sounds, 

Had eye or ear existed to perceive 

The battle of conflicting elements. 

When all the firmament with lightnings blazed, 

And World-convulsing thunders roared aloud. 

XVI 

Now, when the youthful planet had fulfilled 

Its myriads of periods thuswise 

(For eternity where is no life, 

A billion years are transient as a day) 

Earth's superficial heat was so far spent 

That what remained could not produce a flame; 

And so the earstwhile glowing surface ceased 

To radiate a flood of flaming light. 



i8 THE COSMOS 

XVII 

Now, when the heat and light were thus far spent 
A solid, opaque crust began to form 
Upon the surface of the molten sphere — 
First at the poles from which, extending round, 
It spread o'er all the surface of the globe. 
Meanwhile the swift rotation round and round, 
Had made an oblate spheroid of the Earth. 

XVIII 

But still the rain in mighty torrents fell 
And sputtered on the all-but-fusing crust, 
Again to be thrust up, until the Earth 
Submitted to the influence of the floods. 
And now an ocean spread from pole to pole, 
Which boiled unceasingly o'er all the globe. 
And sent up clouds of steam which from above, 
Were beaten back by heavy sheets of rain. 

XIX 

And still the lightnings flew and thunders crashed. 
And still the Sun's bright rays pierced not the 

gloom. 
And all was hushed except the elements; 
And Night, and Storm, and Darkness, reigned o'er 

all. 
O, Night, and Storm, and Darkness, how sublime! 

XX 

Now from the ancient cave Aeolian, 

The winds came forth and drove the clouds away, 



THE COSMOS 19 

And rays of solar light came streaming in, 
To cheer the dull monotony and gloom 
Which then pervaded the Terrestrial scene. 

XXI 

Still changes great and many were to come, 
To fit the earth to be the home of man. 
The surface cooling and contracting still, 
Must oft be torn by upward pressing heat 
While through the rents and chasms thus produced 
Are heaved up mountains of stupendous size — 
Dividing now the erstwhile boundless sea 
By islands, continents, peninsulas — 
Anon to be submerged themselves again, 
While other mountains rising higher still. 
Divide the Ocean into many seas. 

XXII 

And all the while the great affinities 
Of elemental substances worked on 
Conformably to the divine decree 
Of Evolution, the celestial queen. 



Part Four 
I 

Now from the inorganic elements, 
Far in the deep defiles of ocean's bed, 
Beneath the pressure of old Ocean's weight, 
While yet the subterranean heat arose, 
And while eruptions world-convulsing, shook 
The molecules of matter till they split, 
And recombined in other molecules, 
Producing substances which theretofore 
Had not existed on this earthly sphere, 
Undifferentiated Protoplasm 
Which all things in potential energy 
Contained, while inorganic yet it was, 
Elaborated was then by affinity, 
And not created by a deity. 

II 

And Evolution, who is Nature's soul. 
Moved on the fluid protoplasmic mass, 
And by infusing energy divine. 
Transmuted and transformed the plastic mass, 
And, by accretion and absorption, made 
The first organic cell upon the earth. 

Ill 

Now, be it known that what I here relate 
Concerning Protoplasm and the Cell, 
Was by no means a solitary case. 



THE COSMOS 21 

For since the elements which they contained 
Were all-abundant in the Ocean vast, 
And since conditions similar obtained 
With many elements as with the few, 
This grand result was not exceptional. 
And consequently adequate supplies 
Of Protoplasm were elaborated, 
By Nature's most exhaustless chemistr}', 
While myriads of myriads of Cells 
Developed from the protoplasmic mass. 



IV 



Some cells were formed forthwith to be reduced 
Back to the elements from which they came. 
While by nutrition others were transformed 
So that the primordial utricle 
Of plants was most abundantly produced. 
Thus were evolved the vegetable cells 
By transformation of the elements 
Which had been inorganic theretofore. 



V 



Then vegetable matter multiplied, 
First in the thermal waters of the seas, 
Though all plants were infinitesimal. 
But afterward increased and multiplied, 
And varied much in color form and size. 
Diverging also with the lapse of time, 
Each slight divergence came to represent 
A separate, distinct variety. 
Then each variety was modified 
By circumstances somewhat differing, 



22 THE COSMOS 

Till species came of each variety, 
While sub-varieties were multiplied. 

VI 

Now, when the Earth's external heat was spent, 
So that the crust no longer burned and glowed, 
So that the cold intense of empty space, 
Through which the earth was ever whirling on, 
Made sensible impressions at the poles, 
So much that shaggy rocks on mountain heights 
Retained the dews which sable night brought down. 
While dust which erstwhile glowed with fervent 

heat, 
Was transferred into mud by falling rains; 
Then plants which erstwhile had their habitat 
In briny seas, and lakes, and stagnant pools. 
Invaded now the marshy banks all round. 
And thence extended to the higher lands. 
And to the mountain tops and wheresoever. 
Organic life was not forestalled by heat. 

VII 

'Tis not a marvel that some favored plants 

Inhabiting the rich and marshy grounds 

Approximating water courses near. 

Where earthy matter in alluvial beds 

Had been accumulated by the floods. 

Which, coming down from mountains far away. 

Deposited their fertile sediments, 

Created by conflicting elements. 

Should faster grow, and larger, and attain 

Dimensions and appearances diverse 

From other plants which grew on sterile ground, 



THE COSMOS 23 

Or where the heat impressed the surface more, 
Or on the shady sides of rocky heights, 
Nor is it strange that species modified 
By such conditions as adverted to, 
Should from all other species so diverge 
That genera and orders were produced. 

VIII 

While centuries and eons passed away. 
These happy transformations progressed on. 
Until the mighty deep from shore to shore. 
Developed into one Sargasso sea; 
And bloomed and smiled with beauty radiant, 
For every dainty shade of color shone 
In leaves and blossoms of the richest hues 
Which grew and flourished in the seething flood, 
And spangled o'er its surface far and wide. 

IX 

While continents and islands, subjected 

To greater changes of their temperature. 

Possessing a variety of soil. 

And altitude, and seasons — wet and dry, — 

Evolved a vegetation varied more 

In character, and quality, and worth. 

Than that which grew and flourished in the seas. 



Ana now behold the landscapes gay with flowers, 
The rolling prairies wrapped in verdant sheen, 
While here and yonder stately forests rise, 



24 THE COSMOS 

And shrubs and vines adorn the pleasing scene. 

Here vegetables grovv^ in fertile soil ; 

Here countless plants produce abundant seeds; 

Extensive forests yield delicious nuts; 

And vines, and shrubs, and trees, bear lucious fruits; 

And fragrant flowers distill the honied sweets. 

XI 

A blooming garden smiled from shore to shore, 

The fabled garden of the holy gods. 

And there were many gods as we shall see, 

And many lords to dominate the world, 

And animated creatures everywhere, 

Inhabiting the water, land, and air. 

To feed upon the products of the Earth. 

XII 

Because far, far back in the early times. 

While Terra Firma yet was fresh and young, 

And while her virgin breast gave nourishment 

To vegetable life alone as yet. 

Deep in Laurentian seas were other Cells 

Environed differently at their birth, 

In ocean's bed where earthy matters were, 

And by their medium were modified. 

So that instead of utricle of plants. 

The all-important animal sarcode, 

By Nature's chemistry omnipotent. 

Elaborated was abundantly. 

XIII 

It happened that those animated Cells, 
While entering upon their grand career, 



THE COSMOS 25 

Were subjected to their environments, 
As also their descendants are till now. 
Some died and were forgotten. Some survived 
And multiplied and filled the watery world. 
The myriads of those which prospered well, 
And reproduced their kind by myriads. 
Alike at first diverged as time matured. 
Developing unnumbered living forms. 

XIV 

These forms developed a variety 

Of animals more highly organized. 

Diverging ever more as they evolved 

Till species were distinguished. These in turn. 

Diverging from each other more and more. 

While ages passed and cycles rolled around. 

Developed into distinct genera. 

And later into many families. 

And orders were distinguished later still. 

And classes still more widely separate, 

And branches few and farther still between, 

While one great kingdom comprehends them all. 

XV 

Among the early animated Cells, 

Some, by nutrition happily evolved 

The ancient and renowned primordial Germs. 

These germs by Evolution's nurturing care. 

Proliferated most abundantly, 

And flourished, and developed Protogene. 

XVI 

And Protogene increased and multiplied 
And, ever loyal to the will divine 



26 THE COSMOS 

Of Evolution, Nature's royal Queen, 
Developed all its features, parts, and points, 
Until the most progressive of their kind 
Were happily transformed and lifted up, 
And Eozoon was the consequence. 

XVII 

Then Eozoon true to Nature's law. 
While its environments developed still, 
Improved upon its opportunities. 
Until some favored specimens were changed 
Into the monad — wonder of the time. 

XVIII 

But Evolution, still insatiate, 
Transformed the monad to a higher state 
Where, governed still by its environments. 
It came to be the great progenitor 
Of myriad swarms of animalculae. 

XIX 

Still Evolution, never satisfied, 
Intent forever on her grand ideal. 
Selected from the animalculae 
The highest favored individuals 
And nurtured them with unabating care, 
While many generations passed away, 
And while successive changes supervened, 
And all the circumstances were improved, 
Till they developed the Ephemera, 



THE COSMOS i7 

XX 

Ephemera proliferated fast, 
Till teeming millions filled the waters all. 
Then while the ebb and flow of ocean tides, 
And rise and fall of rivers and of brooks, 
And drying up of lakes from marshy beds, 
And rise of continents from ocean's depths. 
And other changes of the lands and floods. 
Brought changes to the dwellers of the seas, 
The most part perished and became extinct. 
While some conformed two new environments, 
And by conforming and transforming, changed 
Their natures, and new species were produced. 

XXI 

And now behold the creeping insects swarm 
Upon the land and feed upon the plants 
Which nature had evolved in ample time, 
Anticipating this necessity. 

XXII 

Still other dwellers of the sea remained 
In all their primitive simplicity. 
While others larger grew and more complex, 
Evolving fins, and scales, and claws, and tails, 
And whatsoever proved advantageous. 

XXIII 

The first among the great influences 
Which in the far remote beginning, gave 
Its most essential, co-essential aid 



28 THE COSMOS 

To make this evolutionary scheme 

The grand success that nature had ordained, 

The first, I say, was old Environment. 

XXIV 

'Twas this enmembraned the organic cell; 

'Twas this created the integument; 

That wrought upon the superficies, 

Developing susceptibility 

Within the nature of the organism 

To be impressed with objects from without. 

Thuswise developed sensibility 

Whence seeing, hearing, feeling were evolved. 

XXV 

Heredity has born a happy part, 
Perpetuating whatsoever change 
The organism might have undergone 
By usage or disusage of its parts — 
Or whether thus acquired or otherwise. 
Preserving what was useful to the race. 

XXVI 

No living creature is identical 

At any hour, with what it was before, 

Or what it is to be one moment hence, 

For change unceasingly is going on. 

Hence no two beings come into the world 

With circumstances all around the same. 

So variations come incessantly, 

And not spontaneously as may seem. 



THE COSMOS 29 

Each being is created by a cause 

Quite adequate for such accomplishment. 

XXVII 

The crowning factor in this scheme divine 
Is Natural Selection which preserves 
Whatever form is fittest to survive 
Such changes as affect the chance of life. 
So in the constant struggle to obtain 
The means of life and pleasures of a mate, 
The one most suitable will dominate 
The situation, and survive the change. 
And thus transmit his race to other times 
More suitable to its environments. 

XXVIII 

Among those ancient dwellers of the sea — 
The dwellers of that thermal polar sea — 
The far remote Laurentian polar sea — 
Were sponges, corals, and crustaceans, 
And other animals of like degree. 

XXIX 

The Mollusks were the most important class, 

Conspicuously the Ascidians, 

The grandest creatures thereunto produced. 

And yet compared with mollusks of today, 

They occupy an unimportant rank. 

Acephalous, invertebrate, we doubt 

Or whether 'tis a mollusk or a worm. 



30 THE COSMOS 

XXX 

But some Ascidians happily transformed, 
And retransformed, while ages passed away, 
Each age transmitting to posterity, 
Some item of improvement on the last. 

XXXI 

The Amphioxus finally evolved, 

And marked an epoch in the course of life. 

The lowest animal the world has known, 

Of those developing a notochord, 

It occupied a most important rank 

'Twixt those which were and those which should 

appear. 
It made its advent in the long ago, 
While yet the waters of the sea were warm. 
Without a head, itself was at the head 
Of all that flourished in the Cambrian world. 

XXXII 

But no imagination could conceive 
How vast the generations that should come 
Into the world of his illustrious line. 
To live and flourish for a little while. 
And propagate their species and retire 
Back from the regions of organic life. 
Resuming their more ancient place and rank 
Among the inorganic elements, 
Resigning to the ages which should come. 
Whatever appertained to living things. 
Because all vertebrated animals 



THE COSMOS 31 

That fill the limpid stream or briny sea, 

Or dig their burrows in the sullen earth, 

Or range at large through fields and forests wild, 

Or navigate the buoyant atmosphere. 

Are CO- descend ants, although far remote, 

From this progenitor of beast and man. 

XXXIII 

But how his numerous progeny diverged 

From one another during centuries 

Of generations which successive rose. 

And flourished for an interval of time. 

Then passed away, relinquishing their place 

To generations fitter to survive. 

And how this great divergence, modified 

By different environments, became. 

So manifest that naturalists now 

Divide their fossils into genera, 

Were quite too tedious to here relate. 

XXXIV 

But of the species that became extinct, 
Or retrograded as conditions changed, 
Concerneth not this narrative of ours, 
Which has to do with happier results. 
For while some retrograded lower still. 
And others disappeared from off the earth. 
There others were which happily triumphed 
O'er all conflicting obstacles which rose 
About them in their struggle to survive. 

XXXV 

With these we have to do, but here again 
'Twere tedious to detail all the steps 



32 THE COSMOS 

And stages in the progress of each race, 
While myriads of changes modified, 
And fitted, and determined the descent. 

XXXVI 

One family developed fins, and scales. 
And branchiae, and flourished in the floods. 
Some lingered yet within the polar seas, 
Where solar heat and light influenced less 
The temperature of water and of air. 
Still others emigrated to the zones 
Where thermal waters reeked beneath the sun. 
And others ventured up the limped streams 
Which ploughed their channels through the con- 
tinents. 
Returning to the Ocean whence it came, 
The water falling from the upper air. 
And others still inhabited the lakes, 
Both north and south, both fresh and salty lakes. 

XXXVII 

Thus different environments became 
The causes all sufficient and direct. 
Of variations many which arose 
Among the members of a single race. 

XXXVIII 

Then Natural Selection saw that some 
Were better calculated to survive 
Because of some advantages obtained 
By happily combined environments. 



THE COSMOS 33 

And these were chosen to perpetuate 
Whate'er advantages they might possess. 
And species multiplied from pole to pole, 
And all the waters teemed with living forms. 

XXXIX 

Now, wheresoe'er conditions were unchanged 
The living forms continued permanent. 
And wheresoever the environments 
Were such as favored the development 
Of animals along established lines, 
Transforming not the species that prevailed, 
Such was the consequence. And size and strength 
Without materially changing forms. 

XL 

But when reaction came of medium, 

Or when migrations into other climes 

Produced conditions favorable more 

To lower forms, then forms would retrograde. 

Enormously developed oftentimes, 

XLI 

All these we mention but to pass them by. 
We pity them but pity can't avail 
To change the course of Nature, or in aught 
Ameliorate the races Fate has doomed. 

XLI I 

Our int'rest with our admiration goes. 

So these more favored species which survived, 

And which evolved toward a higher state, 



34 THE COSMOS 

Concern us most. And hence our story lies 

With all the families of vertebrates 

Who from the Pentadactyle have descent. 

XLIII 

This ancient beast inhabited the floods 

But frequented the shores in quest of food. 

There floundering and scrambling in the mud, 

While generations many lived and died, 

He changed his shape to fit conditions new. 

The medium was foreign to be sure, 

To what his nature thereunto had been, 

But he became adapted to the change. 

His food, unlike his former pabulum, 

Must be obtained by novel methods now. 

So every variation that enhanced 

The progress of this great adventurer. 

Was, by Selection, promptly recognized. 

And made the type of those who should survive. 

XLIV 

And so the Pentadactyle changed his fins 

Which, as such, served him very poorly now. 

And by transforming and transmuting oft, 

Developed and produced his needed claws, 

Two pairs of which he found to always be 

Of great and practical utilit}^ 

Five claws or fingers on each side in front 

Five claws or toes to rearward on each side. 

All these articulated with the trunk 

By arms or legs to which they w^ere attached. 



THE COSMOS 35 

XLV 

Of this great Pentadactyle family 

Some varied thuswise, others otherwise. 

Some variations permanent became. 

These variations then, diverging more, 

As times, and climes, and circumstances changed, 

Grew into species sep'rate and distinct. 

Then still diverging, more and more remote, 

Were recognized as sep'rate families, 

And later still as classes quite distinct. 

XLVI 

One ancient family of vertebrates, 

In search of food, adventured on the shore, 

(Returning to the waters frequently) 

And learned to live in either element. 

On these, likewise, the circumstances wrought 

Important variations numerous. 

And many species of Amphibians 

Evolved along the margins of the floods. 

These species still diverging more and more, 

Were separated into genera. 

While, still belonging to one common class. 

XLVII 

Still other vertebrates, diverging more, 

As dominated by environments. 

Adventured farther out upon the land. 

And learned to prosper in the atmosphere. 

They crawled and hissed among the jungles wild. 

And menaced all the dwellers of the earth. 



36 THE COSMOS 

They wrapped their slimy folds around their prey, 

And strangled all that came within their grasp; 

Or swung their awful lengths from giant trees, 

And caught their unsuspecting victims up 

Before they were aware of danger nigh ; 

Or coiled themselves among the rocks, and pounced 

Upon whatever beast might chance to pass; 

Or, as the Terapin, securely cased 

In plates of mail, would feed on insect life, 

And when approached by danger threatening. 

Would close their armor and elude attack. 

XLVIII 

Thus many species of the reptile class 
(From one another widely differing) 
Made hideous the face of all the earth, 
While ages dragged their weary lengths away. 

XLIX 

There reptiles were which frequented the floods, 
In quest of food, or refuge from their foes. 
Until their natures were again transformed. 
So that aquatic reptiles were produced. 



Now, flying reptiles, in those times, appeared. 
And this improvement on their natures grew, 
Till they became a distinct family. 
They built their nests in trees and mountain crags. 
Or hid them snugly in the leaves and grass. 
Some fed their young on insects, berries, seeds, 



THE COSMOS 37 

While other species played the cannibal, 
And fed upon their fellows of the air, 
Whose timid natures destined them for prey. 

LI 

Thus taking refuge in the upper air, 
Eluding all their earthly enemies, 
They flourished greatly in their element. 
And multiplied their species numerous. 

LII 

But as some reptiles to the floods returned. 

Likewise some birds forsook the upper air, 

Until their pinions were inadequate 

To bear their bodies on the atmosphere. 

And now they tread the earth like clumsy beasts 

And whensoe'er their enemies approach, 

They spread their unavailing wings in air, 

And run for life because they cannot fly. 

LIII 

But last and greatest of the families 

Which have improved upon the notochord, 

And in and during an expanse of time 

Not much unlike a past eternity, 

Have steadily evolved a higher life. 

We recognize the great Mammalian class. 

LIV 

What evolutions intermediate 

Between the Ampioxus long agone 

And ancient, though less ancient, Monotreme, 



38 THE COSMOS 

Succeeded one another in descent — 
Or whether Ganoid Fishes were in line, 
And whether Dipnoi had a place, 
And whether Reptiles constitute a link, 
Can neither change nor modify the fact 
That Evolution made us what we are. 

LV 

That Fishes, Reptiles, and Amphibians, 

And Birds, and Mammals, and still other forms. 

Which interlinked these classes into one. 

Existed in the ages far remote, 

Is recognized by Science and the Muse. 

LVI 

But whether all those vertebrated forms, 
Or if belonging to groups now extant, 
Or extinct species intermediate, 
Which interlinked all classes into one. 
If they were co-descendents of one form, 
Or merely stages of development 
Along the evolutionary line 
From Protoplasm down to modern Man, 
Must not obstruct our retrospective view 
Which should reveal the history of Man. 

LVII 

Some Monotremes more favored than the rest 
Proliferated more abundantly 
And made it needful that they emigrate 
To other regions in their quest of food. 



THE COSMOS 39 

Thus new conditions were encountered now 
Which rendered necessary new pursuits, 
So habits new were formed which modified 
What theretofore had seemed their nature fixed. 

LVIII 

Each generation varied from the last 

As from each other individuals. 

And thus an infinite variety 

Of forms of Mammals were in time evolved. 

LIX 

A happy change came o'er one Monotreme 
Whose circumstances were extremely rare, 
So much that no retreat remained secure 
To oviposit and to incubate. 
Wherefore a transformation supervened, 
And animals viviparous came forth. 

LX 

These latter were imperfectly matured, 

Incapable of shifting for themselves, 

Unequal to the struggle for their lives 

Against the forces which environed them. 

So they ensconsed themselves in pouches snug 

Which Nature furnishes Marsupials. 

And thus protected from their enemies, 

They drew their nourishment from nascent glands. 

The first beginnings of the Mammellae. 

LXI 

Thus nurtured by maternal tenderness, 
They made excursions over hill and dale 



40 THE COSMOS 

O'er prairies broad, through forests dense and wild, 
Up mountains high, and into caverns dark — 
Inhabiting the broad expanse of earth. 

LXII 

Some grew to mammouth size and awful strength, 

And had no enemies they feared to meet, 

While smaller species burrowed into earth, 

Or found their safe retreats in hollow trunks 

Of giant trees which unmolested grew 

In forests wild, for ages numberless, 

And evolutions inconceivable. 

For generations vet by eons told, 

Must still be consummated on the earth. 

Ere man appear, and ere with ax and saw, 

The ancient forests should be overthrown. 

LXIII 

Then Natural Selection singled out 
Among the most advanced Marsupials 
Some specimens on which she should bestow 
Peculiar favors of far-reaching good 
And by transmiting and transforming still 
The animals viviparous, improved 
The great advantage they alone possessed. 
Till they presented to the growing world 
Mammalian 3'ounglings perfectly equipped 
With all the organs, features, points and parts. 
At birth, which should be brought into demand 
As age, and growth, and their environments. 
Might render necessary to their race. 



THE COSMOS 41 

LXIV 

Their chances for supremacy enhanced 

By such remarkable advantages, 

The triumph of Selection was assured. 

To these most highly favored animals 

The struggle for existence still obtained, 

And arduous and ceaseless was the strife. 

But victory was certain in the end; 

Because Necessity is God supreme, 

And favors those who best can help themselves. 

LXV 

Those earliest placental Mammals fed 

On animals inferior to themselves. 

As insects, worms, and vermin of all kinds, 

Which, with their hateful presence, curst the earth. 

LXVI 

Now, even as the Pentadactjde race 

Is represented by great families, 

Of birds which fly upon the balmy air, 

And beasts which tread the surface of the earth, 

And reptiles and amphibians, which live, 

Some in the water, others on the land, 

So even, at a vastly later age. 

The order of placental mammals grew, 

And flourished, and spread over all the earth, 

Encountering conditions most extreme. 

LXVII 

By adaptation to those vast extremes, 
Of heat and cold, of humid soil and dry, 



42 THE COSMOS 

Of forests tall, of jungles dense and wild, 
Of prairies broad, of desert solitudes, 
Where voices have a weird and frightful sound 
Which startle those who dare to utter them, 
Where phantom shapes unearthly rise around. 
And goblins render hideous the scene — 
Bj^ adaptation to conditions thus. 
They varied and diverged essentially. 

LXVIII 

Thence came the Edentata, toothless beasts, 
Rodentia with their great incisor teeth; 
The chiropteria which fly in air; 
Sirenia inhabiting the sea; 
Cetacea, giants of the liquid world ; 
The Ungulata with their horny hoofs ; 
Carnivora with murderous nature fell. 

LXVIX 

And each of these great orders comprehends 
A number of important families. 
But by Selection's sovereign decree, 
Which fitted and designed these beings all 
For places of subordinate degree. 
The Primates came to be of chief concern. 
Henceforth with them our interest shall be: 
And in this line our narrative now lies. 

LXX 

Now, if some extinct Lemur long agone 
Beneath the lowliest which now survives, 
Connects the ancient Lemur family 



THE COSMOS 43 

With some Marsupial progenitor, 

Or if some being of a higher rank, 

Evolved somewhat above Marsupials, 

Gave origin to the Lemuridee, 

Determined then w^hat course the race should take 

But cannot now afiect the consequence 

Which evolution has made manifest 

Through ages vast and changes infinite. 

LXXI 

It came to pass that the Lemuridee 

Diverged remotely from their kith and kin. 

Developing peculiarities 

Which gave advantages o'er other beasts 

Contending in the universal race 

For ultimate superiority. 

LXXII 

Mere quadrupeds at first their digits grew 
To lengths convenient for a varied use, 
Transforming their pedalian members thus 
To organs of prehension, although still 
As locomotive instruments retained. 

LXXIII 

And now Quadrumana were in the world. 
Inhabiting the forests' awful gloom, 
Where, when their enemies approached too near. 
They found a safe retreat in treetops high. 
Their mutual congratulations there 
They chattered in promiscuous declaim, 
And made the forests hideous with the din 
Of mingled voices in discordant bands. 



44 THE COSMOS 

LXXIV 

Then years performed their weary cycles round, 

Successive generations lived and died, 

Till centuries of ages passed away. 

And changes all but infinite were told. 

While yet the Lemur family prevailed 

Above their fellow creatures of the earth. 

LXXV 

But even as the royal family 

Which rules some Monarchy in modem times. 

For generations may proliferate 

Till many families succeed the one, 

All claiming and possessing royal blood ; 

Yet those which hold the least relationship 

To him who occupies the kingly throne 

Are classed and rated with the common herd ; 

So even, at the present age of time, 

There is not living on this earthly sphere, 

A human being, neither high nor low, 

Nor savage, barbarous, nor civilized. 

But what might boast that, circling in his veins. 

In various degrees of purpleness. 

Is royal blood of mighty chiefs and kings. 

LXXVI 

So thus it was in those primeval times, 
When many tribes of the Lemuridee 
Made little or no progress, or perhaps 
Still worse, degenerated some degrees 
Below the standard of the Lemur type. 



THE COSMOS 45 

LXXVII 

Meanwhile the most majestic family 

Of Lemur progressed in their happy course, 

Although their progress was so wonderous slow 

That centuries of ages were required 

To drag the race up the acclivity 

Sufficient distance to be recognized 

As occupying and inhabiting 

A plain distinct, and higher in the scale 

Of graduated being, which declares 

The rank and worth of all organic life. 

LXXVIII 

But what are days, and years, and centuries, 

And cycles, in the lapse of endless time? 

A past eternity has well sufficed 

For events in a series infinite. 

So, in due time, the changes requisite 

To cause the difference which separates 

The highest Lemur from the Simian, 

Had been accomplished. And a higher race 

Inhabited the forests of the earth. 

LXXIX 

The Simian transcended every form 
Which thereunto inhabited the world. 
Yet somewhat like their great progenitors. 
Gregarious and bigamous they were, 
And strove among themselves for paramours. 
The vigilant, the active, and the strong. 
The handsome, the majestic, and the brave, 



46 THE COSMOS 

Triumphant flourished o'er their rival beasts, 
And drove the meaner monkeys from the bovi^er. 

LXXX 

Thus ostracized the mean ones skulked away, 
And often perished and became extinct; 
Or emigrated to a distance safe 
Where, under circumstances different. 
They varied and diverged from other tribes 
Till distinct species often were produced. 

LXXXI 

The larger and more favored thus prevailed, 
And propagated their peculiar traits, 
And so transmitted to posterity 
Their attributes superior. And in time 
A race of animals with qualities 
Transcendently above all other beasts. 
Was, by Selection and Development, 
Evolved to dominate organic life. 

LXXXII 

The families of the Simiadee 

Inhabited and flourished in the climes 

Where vegetation grew the most profuse, 

And torrid summers, never-ending, shone 

In both America and Africa ; 

And all that great connecting continent 

Which joined the Western to the Eastern world : 

And in the oriental regions far, 

Where Oceanica's unnumbered isles 

Were summits of so many mountain peaks 

Which studded o'er a blooming continent. 



THE COSMOS 47 

LXXXIII 

But when this continent became submerged, 

And when the long since lost Atlantis sank 

Below the surface of the briny sea, 

The many tribes of the Simiadee, 

Were separated by the broad expanse 

Of ocean. And for ages numberless 

Were isolated and became distinct 

Species. And still diverging more and more, 

Are classed today as distinct families. 

LXXXIV 

Thence came the Platyrrhini of the West, 
Equipped with long, and oft prehensile, tails, 
With nostrils separated far between 
Aad molar teeth out numbering our own. 

LXXXV 

Then came the Cactarrhini of the East, 

With features more resembling those of man 

In size, and form, and other attributes. 

These filthy beasts — for filthy beasts they were — 

Were in the direct line of Man's descent. 

And though somewhat repulsive this may seem 

To sensibilities too much refined. 

The fact remains that our progenitors 

Were beasts, and not dissimilar to these. 

And deem it no disgrace to recognize 

A lineage thus ancient and thus low, 

Because 'twere lower to originate 

From inorganic clay as has been claimed. 



48 THE COSMOS 

LXXXVI 

Then hail thou venerable Catarrhine! 
All hail ancestor of the Anthropoids ! ! 
And hail, all hail progenitor of Man!!! 

LXXXVII 

A family the most illustrious 

Perpetuates the venerable line 

Of Catarrhine, the patriarch of all 

The ape-like men, as well as man-like apes. 

LXXXVIII 

Thence came the celebrated Hylobates 

Wliose great agility, and bodies light, 

And lengthy arms, fit them for forest life. 

There safe from harm, they leap from tree to tree, 

In sportive glee, or else in quest of food. 

With greatest ease and great rapidity. 

LXXXIX 

So from the patriarchal Catarrhine, 
But by a line divergent some degrees. 
Came Pithecus whose color, size, and form, 
Somewhat distinguished him from Hylobates. 
Nor is the Pithecus gregarious. 

XC 

And even so descend the Troglodytes, 
From that same patriarchal ancestor, 
By still a different divergent line, 



THE COSMOS 49 

Diverging so in size, and form, and strength. 

As well as in ferocious savagery, 

As much to simulate the race of Man. 

The Great Gorilla's not gregarious. 

The little Chimpanzee is said to be. 

The former lives for most part on the earth, 

In bold defiance of his enemies. 

The latter, less ferocious and less strong. 

Inhabits tree tops like his congeners. 

XCI 

But all those Pithicoids had hairy coats 

And hence no need to manufacture clothes. 

Inhabiting alone the hotter climes, 

Their homes amid the branches of the trees. 

They built no dens to shield them from the storm, 

And hence developed not the faculty 

Which rules construction, simple or complex, 

And has its climax in the architect. 

XCII 

And since necessity inclined them not 

To tread the earth, they never learned to rise 

And walk alone upon their hinder limbs 

And use their hands for nobler purposes. 

And so they seem destined for evermore 

To be arboreal, frugiverous, 

And eke out lazy, unprogressive lives, 

Requiring years and eons numberless 

To raise them higher in the living scale. 

Enough to be perceived and recognized 

As occupying a superior plain. 



50 THE COSMOS 

XCIII 

Their habits simple, their desires small 
Their thoughts are few, and no necessity 
To be transmitted through the medium 
Of spoken language. And in consequence 
Speech which distinguishes the human race 
From and above all other animals. 
Was not acquired by the anthropoids. 
And thus they seem predestined ever more 
To be and to remain the beasts they are. 

XCIV 

Although these evolutions slowly came, 

Although they dragged their wondrous changes in 

While time was counted by vast periods 

Yet there were changes more perceptible. 

Some variations were fortuitous, 

And marked off epochs in the growth of things. 

Such was the birth of Pithecanthropus, 

Such was the advent of the sire of Man. 



Part Five 



Beneath the glowing of the southern skies, 
In Afric's broad expanse of mysteries, 
Mid ancient Forest's wild luxuriance. 
Where flowers blossom in eternal spring, 
And song birds carol in the vernal bowers, 
And snow-capped mountains tower in the sky, 
And cast their giant shades athwart the plains, 
Where beasts and birds are reveling in life. 
And monsters wake the forests with their din 
Of howls, and screams, and cries, and deafening 

roars. 
Which render hideous the wilderness — 
There where majestic rivers sweep along, 
Through verdant banks, amid the drooping boughs; 
Where placid lakes are kissed by cloudless skies — 
There on a mossy carpet soft and clean 
O'ercanopied by boughs of leafy green, 
Where climbing vines embraced the giant oak. 
And sent their trailing branches far and wide. 
Which overspread the tree's far-reaching boughs 
To which they clung with spiral tendrils fixed, 
(And held secure while swaying all around) 
And cast down pendant shoots which interlocked 
And intertwined themselves in gay festoons 
Which circled round the couch by Nature spread, 
Whereon a female anthropoid reclined — 
The father of the human race was born, 



52 THE COSMOS 

II 

No accoucheur with burnished instruments, 

And drugs extracted from the toxic herbs, 

And mien portending dire calamity, 

Attended there with stale formalities, 

And complicated rules unnatural, 

To magnify his own importance there. 

And fill with admiration and amaze, 

The minds of all concerned by what he knew; 

And when the crisis had been tided o'er, 

And apprehension and alarm gave place 

To confidence and consequential joy, 

To turn to consternation all their bliss 

By his enormous and unwelcome bill. 

Ill 

No aged matrons formed a circle round, 
With rancid pipes exuding nauseous fumes. 
To fill the air with fetid breath and smoke 
And most loquacious gossip all the while. 
Detailing each the circumstances all 
Which erst attended their experiences. 

IV 

All these were absent, but the songs of birds. 
Among the leafy branches overhead ; 
The hum of bees which reveled mid the flowers 
Whose fragrance filled the balmy atmosphere; 
The zephyrs whispering through the vines and 

reeds, 
Made bright and cheerful the nativity. 
But in the absence of unwholesome fads, 



THE COSMOS 53 

And fashions and degenerated health, 
There little need remained to interfere 
With unperverted Natures management. 



Upon that mossy couch, environed thus, 

That female anthropoid brought forth her younj 

And such a birth ! Of man-like ape descent, 

An ape-like man was born into the world. 

Unlike all Anthropoids thereunto known, 

The hinder limbs were longer than the front, 

The tusks were shorter, and protruded less, 

Than those possessed by his progenitors; 

His nose arose more prominent by far 

Above the common contour of his face. 

Although his sense of smell was less acute. 

In contrast to his hairy ancestors. 

His tender body was all over nude. 

But most peculiarly remarkable 

Of all his many unique attributes. 

Appeared to be his utter helplessness. 



VI 



Yet all those seeming disadvantages 
Which so augmented his necessities, 
Were really but blessings in disguise. 
Predestined to distinguished and uplift 
His race above all other animals. 
And finally exalt their state and pride 
Till they disdain their beastly relatives, 
And boast the great preeminence of Man. 



54 THE COSMOS 

VII 

All Nature welcomed with a gracious smile, 
The advent of the monarch of the earth. 
The giant trees bowed low their stately heads. 
The modest flowers oped their dainty lips, 
And meekly nodded to the coming Lord. 
The tuneful choirs of nature woke their songs 
Of joy divine which touched his ravished ear. 
The squirrels chased each other through the bower, 
And frollicked wantonly among the trees. 

VIII 

Then ancient Simian approached the bower 

And there behold the little prodigy. 

He gently took it in his hairy arms, 

And gazed upon it with astonishment. 

His voice was silent and his tongue was still 

But in his soul he seemed to ponder thus: 

IX 

"The great career of Simian is done. 

A higher race is born into the world, 

Which will succeed to the supremacy 

Of things terrestrial. So I henceforth 

Shall be accounted as a common beast. 

An era new has dawned upon the world ; 

For this fortuitous development 

Will wield the scepter of supremacy. 

His race will multiply and fill the earth, 

And will subordinate all earthly things. 

Material and immaterial." 

And thereupon the cunning infant smiled. 

The mother anthropoid observed and grinned. 



THE COSMOS 55 

X 

The sun had overtopped the western hill, 
And evenings shades were gathering around. 
The infant pillowed on its mother's breast, 
Relaxed into the sleep of innocence. 
Night dropped his sable curtain on the scene, 
And all was still in that primeval home, 
Save now and then a scream discordant fell 
Upon the ears of wary sentinels. 
For sentinels there were about the bower, 
Who guarded well the safety of the tribe. 



XI 



Those screams discordant of nocturnal beasts. 

Which prowled beneath the cover of the night. 

In quest of any solitary prey. 

Disturbed not those gregarious anthropoids 

Who bid defiance to all enemies. 

The ghastly hooting of the nightly owl 

Molested not the quiet of the child. 

For superstitious fears, inherent now 

In all the countless children of his race. 

His nascent intellect had not conceived. 

XII 

But when sweet Philomel broke forth in songs 
Of gladdness, in the stillness of the night, 
It softly touched the little sleeper's ear 
And thereupon he dreamed a blissful dream. 
He thought the music that awoke the night 
Was emanating from celestial choirs. 



56 THE COSMOS 

The luminaries in the azure vault 
Which overarched his leafy canopy, 
Were shining angels in a choral band, 
With nimble fingers sweeping harps of gold 
Whence symphonies entrancing filled the air. 
And like to dreamers in more modern times. 
He fancied that this music of the spheres 
Was meant to entertain his little self, 
And in his dream he thus construed the song: 

"Hail to the dawn of the era of Homo, 

Shout the glad news of his birth. 
Hail to the infant, the Pitchecanthropus, 

Monarch supreme of the earth. 

Let all the beasts of the prairies and forests 

Come with a hearty accord ; 
All that inhabit the air and the waters 

Come and acknowledge your Lord. 

Let all the trees, and the vines, and the flowers, 

Down at his Majesty's hand, 
Lay what is beautiful, rich, and delicious, 

Under his royal command. 

Let e'en the elements of all materials 

Come and obey his decree. 
Break up and form again when he commandeth 

Even his servants are ye. 

Stars up in heaven, ye who are glorious, 

For his diversion should fall. 
Light on his diadem, gem it o'er radiant, 

Crown him the Monarch of all." 



THE COSMOS 57 

XIII 

The nightingale had ceased its joyous lay, 
And flew away to seek its nightly perch. 
It broke a twig of laurel as it rose, 
Which gently fell upon the infant's head. 
Whereon he wakened with a dimple smile, 
To find a diadem upon his brow. 

XIV 

A dazzling ray of light of fiery red. 

Came darting through the branches of the trees. 

And softly lighted on the mossy couch. 

And shone resplendent as an angel bright, 

The which it was in sweet reality. 

This was the message that the angel brought: 

"I come from a world far, far off in Space, 

Where mortals the happiest dwell, 
Where time has evolved a superior race 

Whose glory is wondrous to tell. 

They live in bright mansions all garnished with gold 

They feast upon viands most rare. 
Their raiment secures them from heat and from 
cold 

And glittering jewels they wear. 

They proudly career o'er the billowy main, 

In vessels which laugh at the gales 
They outstrip the winds when they traverse the 
plain, 

In coaches whose wheels roll on rails. 



58 THE COSMOS 

The stars lend their glittering radiance by night, 

To guide and direct the belated ; 
But Art has developed a dazzling light 
Which rivals the Sun at meridian height, 

Whose absence is thus compensated. 

They talk to their friends at the antipodes, 

As people converse tete-a-tete. 
Their voices like sprites passing under the seas 

At an incomprehensible rate. 

They're lighted, and w^armed, and their messages 
born. 

And people transported where'er, 
Or over the land, or the seas, tempest torn. 

By the power that addresses you here." 

XV 

The infant smiled, as infants often do 

When angels talk with them while they're asleep ; 

And snugly cuddled in its mother's arms, 

Slept sweetly till the rising of the morn. 

XVI 

The Sun ascended at a single bound, 
Above the height of land toward the east, 
And cast a searching glance athwart the bower 
Whereon the little prodigy of earth 
Was locked in sleep within its mother's arms. 
A radiant smile was on his beaming face. 
He spread his golden rays about the place. 
And gave a scene that angels might admire. 
He kissed the infants roseate lips and said: 



THE COSMOS 59 

"Wake up little darling, and look all about you, 

Behold the effulgence of day. 
The Earth, as a bride, is adorned to receive you. 

With colors congenial and gay. 

The world you inhabit is one of my children 

I've cherished through ages untold. 
I've lighted it, warmed it, and governed its mo- 
tions, 

And made it what now you behold. 

The first Utricle of the first Protoplasm, 

I saw and beheld at a glance ; 
And this with my Chlorophyl I impregnated, 

Whence came all the Kingdom of plants. 

I furnished the light and the heat to the cell 

Whence the animal kingdom began ; 
And happily I have observed each advance. 

From crude Protoplasm to Man, 

I govern a system of planets like this. 

By Nature's infallable laws. 
And what is achieved here is also elsewhere. 

As effects must follow their cause. 

Some of them are younger or larger and hence 

The time is not ripe for fruition 
Of all that is destined in fullness of time. 

When ages accomplish their mission. 

But some have evolved even higher than this 

(As even this shall evolve higher) 
Where civilization now revels in bliss 

To which your own race will aspire. 



6o THE COSMOS 

And when countless cycles of ages have flown, 

And numberless millions of men 
Have lived, and have died, and to dust have re- 
turned, 

And others succeeded again, 

And tribes shall have risen in battle array, 
Against their own brothers to fight, 

And nations have wasted each other in wars. 
Where right is determined by might. 

And then, after this, when the people arise 

To higher ideals of worth; 
Impelled by Necessity's awful decrees 

To banish all evil from earth. 

They then will be happy and prosperous too, 

Improving for good every hour. 
Then even the deserts of earth will be green 

And gay as your own natal bower." 

XVII 

The Sun now passed above the leafy bower, 

And cast a shade upon the mossy couch 

Whereon the infant lay in calm repose. 

And so the day passed by without event, 

And sable night succeeded to the day ; 

And days and nights successive came and went. 

XVIII 

And still the songsters caroled in the trees, 
And still the squirrels frolicked gleefullj^ 
The flowers redolent of sweet perfumes, 



THE COSMOS 61 

Still spread their dainty petals to the light. 

And still the busy bees among the flowers, 

Kept up their revel while the years went round. 

XIX 

For there unending summer fills the time, 
And while the planet, rolling round the sun. 
Careens and gives the seasons north and south, 
Eternal summer on the tropics shines. 

XX 

And often, when the music of the night 
Was lavished on the heavy ears of sleep, 
Those happy dreams of empire would recur. 
And bliss ecstatic fill his infant soul. 

XXI 

Thus years rolled round. The ape-like infant grew 

Not much unlike all other infant apes. 

For ape he was indeed, and differed not 

From other apes, excepting in degree. 

But here an all-important difference 

Obtained, predestined to produce results 

Of greatest consequence to all the world. 

XXII 

He grew to stature quite unusual. 
Yet strongly built he was. and muscular. 
And differed quite distinctly from his tribe, 
All points of difference favorable to him. 



62 THE COSMOS 

He came to be the leader recognized, 
And ruling chief of all those families, 
Allied by blood and common interest. 
Inhabiting the region round about. 

xxni 

Once on a march they came upon a tribe 

Of Trogloaytes not very far removed 

By variation from their family, 

And Pithecanthropus discovered one 

More perfect female than he yet had known. 

XXIV 

Forthw^ith he sought an opportunity 
To bring her ofiE and have her for his mate. 
Though mates he had, this one he w^ould possess 
Although 'tw^ere at the hazard of his life. 

XXV 

He formed his tribe in menacing array 

And bore down on the tribe of Trogloaytes 

Who rose to grapple them in mortal fray. 

But when the most exciting point was reached. 

Both hostile armies on the strain to close, 

And fairly trembling all long the lines 

To clash together in the din of fight, 

He seized his chosen mate and bore her back 

Within his lines, and ordered a retreat. 

XXVI 

The tribe obeyed and Pithecanthropus 

Already was congratulating when 

The chief of Trogloaytes his favorite missed. 



THE COSMOS 63 

Already disappointed by the ruse, 
And cheated of the opportunity 
To revel in his choicest element, 
The blood and carnage of a battlefield, 
The Troglodyte now raged on finding out 
The pride and promise of his tribe was gone. 

XXVII 

Forthwith he started in a hot pursuit. 

His tribe all following his hostile lead. 

They reached an eminence whence they beheld 

The enemy upon the next ascent. 

The chief rushed forward, but his tribe held back. 

The Pithecanthropus then left his bride 

Surrounded safely by his followers, 

And met his rival in the narrow glen. 

XXVIII 

No bullying nor parlying was done 
By either adversary to deter 
The other, nor to stimulate his own 
Intrepid courage, bounding for the fray, 
But each bold rival on the other rushed, 
And each one took the other as he came. 

XXIX 

Each party was the champion of his race, 
And animated by relentless wrath. 

XXX 

There is perhaps among earth's terrors, none 
More terrible than unarmed, beastly strength. 



64 THE COSMOS 

When maddened furj' rises into rage, 

And Nature's awful weapons come in play. 

XXXI 

The two antagonists were strongly locked 
Within each other's unrelenting grasp. 
The hand of each one sought the other's throat. 
Each face was backward drawn. Each eye flashed 

fire. 
Their lips were drawn apart. Their teeth were set; 
Their muscles to the highest tension strained ; 
Their veins swelled into prominent relief. 
Each meant to win or die. 'Twas thus began 
That earliest of fights of primal man. 

XXXII 

They coiled like serpents, each the other round, 
They writhed, and turned, and twisted in and out. 
They rocked, and tossed, and toppled, to and fro, 
They swayed from side to side and round about 
The narrow glade among the standing trees. 
They uttered cries of anger and revenge. 
They shrieked, and howled, and gnashed their aw- 
ful teeth. 
And in the frenzy of their beastly rage 
(Not much unlike the races that survive) 
The lower beastly methods of the fray 
They now resorted to, and with their teeth 
To rend each other desperately sought. 
But each defended with his brawny arms. 
Himself against the onset of his foe. 
To keep from falling in the others jaws. 



THE COSMOS 65 

XXXIII 

Thus seeking each to hold the other off, 
They pushed apart. Then each one aimed a blow, 
With clenched fist, full on the other's brow 
Each foe rebounded back and fell his length. 

XXXIV 

Again they closed, and now the fight resolved 
Itself into a combat fist and skull. 
And now to typify their antitype, 
The modern pugilist, they stood erect, 
With arching chest opposed to arching chest, 
Their shoulders squared, their hands made into fists, 
And, had their faces recently been shaved. 
They might have seemed to be a trifle blenched. 

XXXV 

Instinctively they parried right and left, 

And up and down, and ever and anon 

Dealt heavy slugs wherever they might fall. 

And thus they battered, pounded, mauled, and 

slugged, 
And ponderous blow succeeded ponderous blow. 
Each sturdy champion, desperate with ire. 
Had rather die than quit the field alive 
And leave his foe triumphant on the ground. 

XXXVI 

Nor this could win the fight nor that would yield, 
Until the foot of Pithecanthropus, 



66 THE COSMOS 

Unmindful of a treacherous running vine, 
Uptripped. He tottered many paces back, 
And fell supine on Terra Firma's breast. 

xxxvn 

Auspicious was that fall. A gnarled bough 
Had fallen from an oak that towered nigh. 
And Pithecanthropus while reaching back, 
Instinctively to mitigate the fall, 
Dropped with his palm upon this knotty club. 

xxxvni 

He seized it by reflex, and instantly 
Arose and brandished it above his head, 
And with the fury of exploded rage. 
And all the strength his brawny arm could lend, 
Brought down the weapon on the other's head. 
The skull though hard broke like an empty shell. 
And Death eternal claimed the Troglodyte, 
And Pithecanthropus the victory. 

XXXIX 

Dire was that strife, and great was the reward. 

The sequel was of graver consequence 

Than Pithecanthropus himself could dream. 

For myriads of myriads of souls, 

Unborn and unconceived hung in the scale 

Of doubtful balance while the combat waged, 

Or whether they were ever to be born 

Or ever to remain nonentities. 

For Spontaneity might never more 



THE COSMOS 67 

Have furnished such a Pithecanthropus 
With such a happily adapted mate ; 
And so fortuitous a union might 
Have not recurred again in the same world. 

XL 

The prize that fell to Pithecanthropus 
As victor in the strife with Troglodyte, 
Was such a mate as he and he alone, 
Of all the primates of his time and clime, 
Was worthy to possess as equal mate. 

XLI 

And Evolution blest the happy pair, 
And bade them fruitful be, and multiply, 
And populate the earth, and conquer it. 
And many dimpled children graced their lives. 
And these in turn raised many, many more. 
And so each generation multiplied 
Until it came to pass in course of time 
That all the members of this favored stock 
Withdrew themselves from other Anthropoids 
And by seclusion and exclusion long, 
Developed a distinct variety. 

XUI 

This last variety of Anthropoids, 
Or, more exactly, one of Pithecoids, 
Which, long ago derived their lineage 
From Catarrhine, the ancient patriarch. 
Now bear the name of Pithecanthropi, 
The aborigines of all the world. 



68 THE COSMOS 

XLIII 

This race of animals inherited 

The size and strength of their progenitors 

Who, by Selection, propagated most 

The largest, strongest, and the best endowed, 

Until their size and other attributes 

Developed the necessity to change 

Their habits from a life arboreal 

To one essentially terrestrial ; 

And from exclusively frugivorous 

To one practically omnivorous. 

XLIV 

These Pithecanthropi became too large 

To climb with readiness, dispatch, and ease, 

And dexterously leap from tree to tree. 

And thus escape pursuing enemies 

With whom in turn they were too weak to cope. 

Yet unequipped with horns, or tusks, or claws. 

With which to grapple with their mortal foes, 

Their disadvantageous predicament 

Created the necessity to think. 

XLV 

These disadvantages were still increased 

By incoordination of their limbs, 

The hinder being longer than the front. 

Which made them awkward quite as quardrupeds 

Their gaits ungainly and the progress slow. 

XLVI 

But still retaining, and improving still. 
The function of prehension with their hands. 
They frequent and more frequently arose 



THE COSMOS 69 

Upon their hinder limbs, and poised themselves 
By holding to some object for support, 
Until it came to pass that like the child, 
Who typifies the childhood of the race, 
They toddled all about upon two feet. 
Still holding on to objects for support. 

XLVII 

Thus plodding onward carrying the staffs 

Which steadied and upbraced their tottering steps, 

They learned to walk upright with ample ease, 

And make most deadly weapons of the staffs. 

Then woe unto the enemy who dared 

Approach within the limit of their range. 

So thus they learned to use successfully 

The instruments of death in self defense, 

And for attacking enemies or prey. 

But when unarmed they practiced cunning pranks, 

And thus developed more resourceful minds. 

XLVIII 

Nude as they were, the sunshine and the storms 
Were more unkind to them than other beasts, 
And drove them to the genial shade of trees, 
Whene'er oppressed by noonday's scorching heat. 
In winter's cold and storm they found them dens. 
In caves, and grots, and caverns of the earth. 

XLIX 

Then when their numbers swelled to such extent 
That all the dens which nature had supplied. 
Were insufficient to accommodate 



70 THE COSMOS 

The multitudes who thronged and crowded them, 
They piled up stones about the cavern's mouth, 
To give additional capacity, 

Or built rude pens of stones, and logs, and boughs, — 
And architecture had its origin. 



Then Brain and Hand, co-operating, gave 

The rising race the art of masonry. 

Necessity suggested to the Mind 

Each new device which, when the Brain designed. 

Was executed by the clever Hand. 

The eye inspected all, and then the Mind 

Could see where some improvement might be made. 

This done, suggested others evermore, 

And masonry, the first of useful arts. 

Arose to grandeur and sublimity. 

LI 

'Twas in those times necessity for food 

Became so grave that other animals 

Were slain and eaten, while their pelts were used 

To compensate the lack of natural hair 

And hence the origin of wearing clothes 

Which could not be sufficiently supplied 

From this resource. Then rushes, lint, and bark. 

Were plaited into rudest coverings. 

Then this improved upon, like other arts, 

Led to the manufacturing of cloth. 

LH 

Their smell and hearing being less acute 
Than many of their rival animals 



THE COSMOS 71 

With whom they had to compete for their food, 
And often had to grapple for their lives, 
Their wariness stood them in better stead. 
So sleepless sentinels, without the den. 
Safeguarded 'gainst disastrous surprise. 
So Evolution gave them discipline. 

LIII 

Necessity produced society, 

For mutual dependence recognized. 

Resulted in assistance mutual. 

For even brutes may, in extremities, 

Perceive that none can live unto himself, 

For true self love and social are the same. 

Thus animals observed the Golden Rule 

Long ages ere 'twas given utterance. 

LIV 

The steps were thenceforth easy, short, and smooth. 

To law and order, or at least so much 

As ever yet has been attained, and proved 

To be of practical utility; 

If you will not kill me, I will not you; 

And I will not molest your property, 

If you will show the same respect for mine; 

And never violate the chastity 

Of my connubial and rightful spouse. 

And I'll reciprocate the due respect 

Which right and honor bind me to observe. 

LV 

As more complex conditions came about, 
These laws evolved to meet conditions new, 



72 THE COSMOS 

And each improvement gave the impetus 
To others, even to the present time. 

LVI 

Among the many seeming weaknesses 

Inherent in this most peculiar race, 

The which they needs must strive to overcome 

For mere existence sake, but which in turn, 

When compensated gave advantages 

Of great utility, and lifted them 

High up above all earthly animals, — 

The one which seemed the most unfortunate 

But which in turn contributed the most 

To their improvement and beatitude, 

Was infancy's most utter helplessness. 

LVH 

'Twas this condition gave to uncouth man, 
The institution of the family, 
The happiest achievement realized 
Till then, or even to the present time. 
This made the home with all its joys and charms, 
The happy fireside with delightful cheer. 
The common board where all together feast, 
The downy bed to shield their tender forms 
From winter's piercing cold and driving storm. 
It made all this for poor unhappy man, 
Which, in a high degree, requites his toils. 
His cares, his troubles, and his many woes. 

LVI 1 1 

For parental instinct in brutish beasts 
Is adequate to give their tender young 



THE COSMOS 73 

The strong protection and the kind support, 
The which without they never could survive. 

LIX 

In anthropoids the time of helplessness 

Is greater than in lower animals. 

And these proportionately higher are 

Than those whose infancy demands less care. 

LX 

And so with Pithecanthropi, but more 

Proportionately, as the period 

Of infancy and chilhood's tender years 

Is greatest of them all. The consequence 

Is that this long protracted period 

Of tender care creates an interest 

And love which far transcends all precedence. 

Although the ties of consanquinity 

Of beasts be strong and challenge sympathy. 

LXI 

Now, all of these developments required 

Some method of communicating thoughts, 

As well as some established medium 

Through which to comprehend each others thoughts. 

Co-operation necessarily 

Required the harmony of all concerned, 

For concert of endeavors to obtain, 

Designs, and plans, and rules, must be observed, 

And necessarily, be understood. 



74 THE COSMOS 

LXII 

Then signs descriptive of some circumstance, 
And sounds mimetic of phenomena, 
Or cry of living creature in distress, 
Or lightsome warble of the singing bird, 
Or any other noises they observed, 
And recognized and imitated oft, 
Became the representatives of things 
Of popular concern and interest. 

LXIII 

And now these few uncouth mimetic sounds. 
Whose meanings arbitrary were and vague. 
By signs and gestures aided much, were used 
For interchanging what few thoughts they had. 
So these few words they chattered o'er and o'er. 
Like little children prattling evermore, 
Amongst themselves in all their childish glee. 
When first assaying to communicate 
Their simple, childish thoughts in childish style. 

LXIV 

At first those simple words were all concrete, 

But later on when abstract principles 

W^ere recognized, the names of concrete things 

Which represented or personified 

The abstract principles, were given them. 

And so it is unto the present time 

The concrete objects furnish all the names 

For all abstracts investigated yet. 

LXV 

Thus slow, extremely slow the language grew 
As chance or accident gave utterance 



THE COSMOS 75 

To thoughts of objects, acts, etcetera, 
Till all the parts of language were evolved. 
The interjection first of all, perhaps, 
The names of objects next, and afterward. 
Words representing action, being, state. 
Then later still the other parts of speech 
Were slowly added as necessity 
Demanded and the ingenuitj^ 
Of man supplied each insufficiency. 

LXVI 

Thus from a few most accidental sounds, 
With all their limitless variety 
Of modulation, there have been evolved 
The wondrously elaborate, and rich. 
And copious, and growing languages 
Of all the races living on the earth. 

LXVII 

And this it is which constitutes the chasm 

Impassable between the human kind 

And other animals whose nascent thoughts 

Are unexpessed and therefore, never rise 

Above the level of necessities. 

'Tis man alone, with languages' kind aid. 

Can rise upon the buoyant wings of thought, 

And soar above the plain of things concrete. 

To heights sublime and visions beautiful. 

And in imagination may enjoy 

The ecstacies of superearthly bliss. 

LXVIII. 

These happy inspirations, crystalized 
In lucid verse and rhetoric sublime, 



76 THE COSMOS 

Are thus transmitted into other souls, 

To lift them up to higher plains of joy, 

For words are representatives of thoughts. 

And new, and brilliant thoughts may be acquired 

By learning words, till all the happy realm 

Of cerebration may be traversed o'er. 

And each emotion and volition may, 

As well as all the field of intellect. 

Be comprehended through the medium 

Of words which represent all shades of thought. 

LXIX 

Now, be it known that these developments 
Were slow, so very slow that ages passed 
Without perceptible advantage gained. 
Each slight improvement that was realized 
Was by fortuitous departure made. 
Which natural Selection seized upon. 
And turned to some account for future weal. 

LXX 

Spontaneous departures would occur 
Sometimes, of consequence, and were preserved 
By Natural Selection, for some end — 
Sometimes for better, oftentimes for worse, 
But what was necessary' to maintain 
Existence, by conforming to such change 
Of circumstances as from time to time 
Occurred, affecting their beatitude. 

LXXI 

Meanwhile the populations would increase. 

And render it essential to divide 

And form themselves in clans subordinate, 



THE COSMOS 77 

The more successfully to overcome 

The barriers which environed them around 

And limited their possibilities. 

LXXII 

By thus dispersing them in roving bands, 
And making conquests of adjacent lands, 
Subduing whatsoever might oppose 
Their progress and their rights of sovereignty, 
Their chances were augmented to survive, 
In all their struggles with environments. 

LXXIII 

Thus tribes and nations had their origin, 
And thus the conquest of the earth was made. 
And thus all creatures were subdued by man. 

LXXIV 

Then changes in the surface of the earth. 
Of consequence, were still occurring oft, 
And continents and islands were submerged, 
And peoples severed far remote by seas 
Which, then were as impassable as doom. 

LXXV 

When gravitation's center northward moved 
And ocean's waters swept toward the pole, 
And new, and all but boundless, continents 
Arose to light, in far off southern climes, 
While lowlands of the northern hemisphere 
Were all submerged, and left the high plateaus 



78 THE COSMOS 

And movmtain peaks as islands here and there, 
Remote from one another in the seas, 
Then men, as well as other animals, 
In scattered tribes were isolated far, 
By rising waters which, as they arose, 
Before them drove all creatures of the earth. 

LXXVI 

A people occupying any plain 

Divided by a river, creek, or brook. 

Were driven by the swelling of the stream, 

In opposite directions to the hills. 

Or mountain systems distant far apart. 

Then as the swelling waters rose and spread, 

And inundated all the lower plains, 

Converting and transforming all the highlands 

Into so many widely scattered islands, 

Those peoples must and did conform themselves 

To new conditions widely different — 

Quite different from what they were before, 

And differing from one another now. 

LXXVII 

Some found themselves pent up on barren isles, 

High up in northern climes of frigid cold, 

While others sweat beneath the burning skies, 

Amidst infections, pests, and reptiles vile. 

Of hotter regions in the sunny south. 

But others still enjoyed a fairer clime, 

The golden mien where heat and cold were mixed 

And mingled in proportions happier, 

Each tempering and neutralizing each 

Which rendered life more nearly a success. 



THE COSMOS 79 

LXXVIII 

But after many ages thuswise passed, 
When each and every isolated tribe 
Had come to think its island was the earth, 
And that its people were sole occupants, 
The course of gravitation's center turned 
To southward, and the channels of the deep 
Reversed their currents, and with majesty. 
Bore down upon the blooming southern plains, 
(Where torrid summers never ending shone) 
And mixed their chilly iceberg-laden tides 
With warmer waters of the thermal seas. 

LXXIX 

Then all the lowlands of the southern world 

Were inundated by the swelling flood. 

The higher mountains and pleauteaus meanwhile 

Protruded through the all encircling waves 

Their sturdy crests, maintaining a retreat 

For refuges, who, year by year, arrived 

As ocean's boundaries approached more near. 

And nearer still, as ages passed away, 

And pressed these living populations all 

More densely, by encroaching on the shores 

Of all these many new-created isles. 

LXXX 

These mingled populations desperate 
For food and range, on one another preyed. 
Beast preyed on beast. Those that were near al- 
lied 



8o THE COSMOS 

Against each other strove unto the death. 
There others were more timorous who fled, 
And were pursued, and sometimes overta'en, 
Or unsuspecting were surprised and slain. 

LXXXI 

The navigators of the upper deep 

On buoyant wing pursued their fellow-fowls 

With murderous intent, or in their nests 

Surprised, and caught, and mercilessly killed 

As many as they might, and tore their quiv'ring 

flesh 
To gratify their intense appetites. 
More huge and daring birds of prey were wont, 
On bended wing to swoop down from on high, 
And tear, with beak and claw, such helpless beasts 
As might be unprepared for self defense. 

LXXXII 

Retaliating beasts of prey would lie 

In secret ambush till some thoughtless bird 

Approached the earth in quest of food or drink, 

To oviposit or to incubate. 

Or, when the sable night spread over all, 

Its mantle dark, to fold its weary wings. 

And settle down upon its perch to rest, 

The beast would pounce upon it unawares, 

And feed upon It. with a savage greed. 

LXXXIII 

So man the most ferocious of them all. 
Preyed on the creatures of the earth and air, 



THE COSMOS 8i 

And of the waters. But the worst of all, 
The beastly instincts in this ape-like man 
Were often turned against his fellow-man. 
Then wars ensued, and man against man strove, 
And brother fought with brother to the death. 
So Cains were many in those early times, 
And martyred Abels were no trifling few. 

LXXXIV 

For man had risen but a slight degree 

Above his fellow-beasts, and still retained 

The thirst for blood of his progenitors. 

So man would snarl at man, and threat, and dare, 

And tease, and banter, to foment a strife; 

And spar, and thrust, and strike, and kick, and 

claw, 
And choke, and bite, like other savage beasts. 

LXXXV 

And when he seemed to rise above the brute, 
Inventing aids to all his weaknesses. 
Among his first and great inventions were 
The instruments of murder and of death, 
To pierce, and cut, and mangle, and destroy, 
His brother man and fellow-aspirant 
To higher life and holier pursuits. 

LXXXVI 

Since then a few brief ages have elapsed, 
And man presumes that he is civilized. 
And now he vaunts his great preeminence 



82 THE COSMOS 

Above and over all organic life, 

And swells with pride and self-conceit to boast 

Of happy progress in the higher life, 

And seems to think the zenith is attained, 

As each preceding age has thought before. 

LXXXVII 

And now behold the nations of the earth 
Who pose as civilized, and we observe 
The savage war club still is in demand. 
Like all things it has happily evolved, 
Producing handsome swords, and bayonets, 
The cheerful blunderbuss, the musket cute, 
The mortar proud, the brilliant gatling gun, 
The swivel bright, and cannon most sublime. 

LXXXVIII 

Now gunboats, monitors, and battleships. 
Destroyers, cruisers and torpedo boats. 
Plough hostile seas in quest of human game. 
While on the land are forts and castles high. 
Block-houses, redoubts, stockades, abatis, 
And on each promontory's uncouth brow 
Are smiling batteries serenely fixed, 
With many other implements of war. 
And lead and steel are greatly in demand. 
And powerful explosives have the go. 

LXXXIX 

Enthroned on this exhalted eminence 

Of "Higher life," "refinement," "charity," 



THE COSMOS 83 

"Goodwill to man", or what it may be termed, — 
Above the savage man and savage beast, 
He wields his instruments of death 
Against his fellow-godlike enemy. 

XC 

Thus men, like wolves, and tigers, stain themselves 
With life's blood from the hearts of other men, 
And life reciprocally goes for life. 
While man with man contends in deadly strife. 

XCI 

If any one should sneer then to be told 
From whence his boasted human line descends, 
And, by his sneering shows his werewolf teeth 
Which, like his whole anatomy, attest 
The accuracy of this pedigree. 
Let him be told to never abnegate 
His less pretensious beastly relatives 
While modern man with opportunities 
Which he so loudly boasts, is beast-like still. 

xcn 

Those alterations of the lands and floods 
Secured the distribution o'er the earth 
Of animals of all degrees and ranks. 
Including Man above and over all. 
While thus distributed through lands remote. 
In climates different, conditions changed, 
It came to pass that each peculiar clime 
To some varieties would fatal prove; 



84 THE COSMOS 

That all who tended toward some extreme 
Would flourish here but perish other where. 
So variations, backed and seconded 
By Natural Selection, gave each clime 
Its own peculiar race and style of man. 

XCIII 

While centuries of ages passed away, 

Establishing distinct varieties, 

The sickly, sultry wilds of Africa 

Produced the woolly-headed, sable race ; 

While Oceanica with all her isles 

Which spangled o'er the surface of the deep 

Presents the brown-complexioned Maalayans; 

And, separated by a broad expanse 

Of ocean, was the Western Continent 

Upon whose hills and plains the Red Man roamed 

And far Cathay, in oriental climes, 

Presents the Yellow, or Mongolian race. 



Part Six 

I 

But last and greatest was the element 

Inhabiting the region round about 

The ample sea whose surges kiss the shores 

Of Europe, Africa, and Asia all, 

And on whose ample bosom long agone, 

The civilizing deity of earth, 

Commerce divine, was nurtured and matured. 



II 



These Whites had long inhabited the zone 

Where no extremes are felt of heat nor cold, 

To circumscribe the industries of man ; 

And where the happiest facilities 

For bartering the surplus each produced, 

Existed as a natural sequence 

Of fortunate relations which obtained, 

Of land and water — islands, harbors, bays, 

Peninsulas, and mountains, valleys, plains. 

And rivers, firths, and gulfs, and lakes, and straits, 

Which made exchange of products feasible. 

Ill 

' Fwas thus they came in contact man with man. 
Thus tribes had intercourse with other tribes. 
So mutual opinions were exchanged ; 
And each appropriated novel thoughts, 
Which others might suggest with whom he met. 



86 THE COSMOS 

IV 

Thus light was thrown on many mysteries, 
And men discovered laws which govern things; 
And Science rose beneath an awful load 
Of ignorance and dire stupidity, 
And slowly, very slowly, cast away 
Each obstacle opposed to Truth divine; 
And stood forth in a splendor radiant 
(Though manifest but to the favored few) 
To guide unerringly the way which leads 
To higher life and purer joys on earth. 

V 

And then and there it was that Art came forth. 
The useful, fine, and ornamental arts, 
To meet the ever-rising need of man, 
And comforts and conveniences supply. 
And superadd adornments, luxuries. 
Embellishments, and flourishes, which give 
Refining touches to the character. 

VI 

There first it was that literary men 
Wrote fiction, poetry, and history. 
Thus giving to posterity the means 
Of comprehending what has been acquired, 
And what has been accomplished in the past, 
By each preceding age, that those to come 
May start in life with all advantages 
Accumulated by preceding times. 



THE COSMOS 87 

VII 

And then and there it was that politics 
Assumed a character, and took on form, 
And brave unselfish men learned government, 
And patrioticall}' sought the peace, 
Prosperity, and safety of the State, 
Regardless of their own aggrandizement. 
To guard the people's rights and liberties. 
Improve their morals, and in every way 
Promote the common good of all concerned, 
Was politics in that ideal age 
Of patriotic man's unselfishness. 

VIII 

'Twas there likewise that Superstition rose 

To eminence and influence supreme. 

And, while her great pretention had to do 

With things unearthly, supernatural, 

A future life, another world than this. 

Immortal souls, and Heavens, Hells, and Gods, — 

While making such pretensions, all the while. 

Contemning and condemning earthly things, 

She meddled with terrestrial affairs; 

Asserted privileges temporal ; 

Assumed and wielded powers secular; 

And ruled supreme the sublunary world. 

IX 

Then men made capital of ignorance, 

For, by appealing to credulity, 

They foisted on an unsuspecting world 



88 THE COSMOS 

Whatever impositions they desired. 
By thus presuming; on the ignorance 
And dullness of the stupid multitudes, 
They aggrandized their selfish interests, 
Assuming leadership unwarranted. 



The most successful of the charlatans, 

Who most egregiously abused the race, 

At death were apotheosized as gods, 

That all their villainies might never cease. 

But dominate the world through future times. 



XI 



Then those pretenders who survived the dead 
Professed to be in touch with those demised; 
To have communion with the holy gods; 
And claimed authority to give to men 
The revelations they from gods received. 
They arbitrarily enforced on men 
The observation of divine decrees. 
As if the gods could not reveal themselves 
To whomsoe'er on earth they might desire. 

XII 

The every whim and caprice of the gods, 
Imposed thus shamefully upon the world. 
Was law supreme and irrevocable, 
Save through the mediation of the priests. 
Those priestly functions were in great demand, 
And self-appointed vicegerants of gods, 



THE COSMOS 89 

Would sell indulgences at fancy rates, 
To men who chose to sin, but feared the conse- 
quence. 

XIII. 

Men feared to die because the world beyond 

Was peopled with the vilest of the vile. 

And haunted by uncouth unsightly shapes, 

And dominated o'er by devils grim 

Who rested neither day no night for aye 

To torture those who served them best on earth. 

They joyed infinitely for ever more 

In scooping brimstone on eternal fires. 

Wherein their victims wailed in agony 

For serving not their enemies the priests, 

And not supremely worshiping the gods 

Whom these same devils hated utterly. 

XIV 

Such was the teaching in the long ago. 
There people are who, even to this day. 
Accept with blind credulity the creeds 
Of ancient ignorance and modern fraud. 
But in medieval ages were the times 
When superstitious Bigotry accursed 
Most sadly and deplorably the world. 
Inflicting on poor, miserable man 
The most enormous and heart rending ills. 

XV 

Meanwhile the populations had increased, 
Which indicated stronger governm«its, 



go THE COSMOS 

That order and discipline be maintained. 

'Twas then, alas, that Superstition rose, 

With awful terror stamped upon her mien, 

To force her leadership upon the world. 

A monster hideous although she was, 

Repulsive and disgusting as she is. 

She brought the world to worship at her shrine. 

XVI 

Like to Procrustus in the olden time, 
All men were placed upon her iron bed. 
And drawn or lopped, as necessary found, 
To bring them into strict conformity. 

XVII 

'Twas thus for ages and for centuries 

The wheels of progress were impeded, stopped. 

For every man who showed superior gifts, 

And, in a spirit of philanthropy, 

Investigated man's unhappy state. 

And man's condition to ameliorate. 

Attempted, with disinterested care, 

Not looking to his own aggrandizement, 

Must lose his head to please the holy church 

Which sought to keep the race in ignorance 

And mean ser\'ility for evermore. 

XVIII 

When men of intellect have risen high 
In education and in moral worth. 
They then disdain to live in slaverj'. 
Or whether physical or psychical. 



THE COSMOS 91 

XIX 

When many centuries had thuswise passed, 
And millions of the worthiest of men 
(Evolved above the level of their time) 
Had for their own progressiveness atoned 
With their own lives — or at the burning stake, 
Or on the rack, or on the gallows high, 
Or other of the fiendish processes 
Which theocratic tyranny devised — 

XX 

Then Evolution who could not be foiled. 

Though baffled through long ages sadly dark, 

Reacted mightily, and came again. 

In spite of superstitious bigotry. 

And raised a revolution in the world 

To check reactionary tendencies. 

Now thinking men may speak their honest thoughts 

And live, and wield an influence for good. 

XXI 

Upon this wise the revolution came: 

Ecclesiastic domination had 

In centuries became most absolute. 

Then those who held ecclesiastical rule 

Became so arrogant and tyrannous. 

Exploiting heartlessly the laity, 

And riding other occupations down. 

Till nothing but the church was a success. 

So men aspired to the ministry 

For wealth and power which it alone could give. 



92 THE COSMOS 

XXII 

Then rivalries occurred, and bitter feuds, 
And rents, which made the institution quake. 
And great divisions severed Christendom. 
Then each division to annihilate 
All others was committed and resolved. 

XXIII 

Then leaders of the many factions rose 

To grapple opposition to the hilt, 

That might dispute their ow^n aggrandizement. 

Then great and terrible the conflict waged. 

The victory trembled in the balance long. 

Nor this could conquer nor the other yield 

Till all the earth was stained with human gore. 

And still the balance nodded either way, 

And truces were of mutual concern. 

So armistices oft were utilized 

By all contending parties, to maintain 

Survival of their bad existences. 

XXIV 

Now, other splits occurred more frequently, 

And each warred most on those most like itself. 

Then minor subdivisions multiplied 

Till no one sect could dominate the rest, 

And naught was left for all of them to do 

But make a universal compromise 

The which should comprehend all sects and creeds, 

And happily it reached beyond the creeds, 

And gave protection to the thinking world. 



THE COSMOS 93 

XXV 

Then men could think, and speak and write and act, 
(Jntrammeled by ecclesiastic laws. 
The State assumed its proper dignity, 
And rose preeminent above the Church. 
Thenceforward all the greatest intellects 
Have been, and are, and ever more will be, 
Aspirants to some happier pursuits 
Than serving Superstition's grim decrees. 

XXVI 

Now man stood forth unshackled mind and limb, 
And saw before him a confused world. 
Whate'er of progress there had been achieved 
Vv^as due to accident, and not unlike 
The slow, fortuitous developments 
Which, in the tedious ages of the past, 
Had raised the Monad to the human state. 

XXVH 

But finally Man had a right to think, 

Though trammeled still by pious prejudice 

And ostracized from smart society, 

And boycotted by a biased world. 

The higher thinkers would not be deterred 

From rendering to an ungrateful world. 

The fruits divine of energetic thought. 

xxvni 

Thenceforth in spite of narrow bigotry, 

In spite of ostracisms and boycotts. 

Men ventured forth beyond the bounds prescribed 



94 THE COSMOS 

By erstwhile recognized authority, 

And made investigations in new fields. 

Then precious gems of pure and happy thought, 

In crude and uncouth state were brought to light. 

Which, polished, and refined, and placed on high, 

Now glitter in the blazing galaxy 

Of Intellect's resplendent firmament. 



Part Seven 

I 

Now, every revolution of the earth, 

Which ushers from the east the golden dawn, 

To shed her light divine upon a scene 

Where mortals grapple their environments, 

Reveals some happy field to be explored; 

And each recurring night finds progress made 

In the uplifting of the human race; 

Some new discovery contributing 

Its item to the fund of knowledge gained ; 

Or some invention of utility 

Which may augment the happiness of man ; 

While all the myriad environments. 

Which so embellish and so much exalt 

The life and happiness of rising Man, 

Are still improving as the race improves. 

II 

But still the end in view is not attained, 

The goal not reached of Man's beatitude. 

The happy climax is not realized 

Of possible and sure development. 

Of physical, and intellectual, 

And moral, and of social betterment. 

Ill 

The impetus which now has been acquired 
To progress upward to a higher plain. 



96 THE COSMOS 

Can no more rest contented by the way 
Than man can retrograde from his estate, 
And back return to lower beast-like forms. 

IV 

A future time will come, for come it must, 

When all the problems which now puzzle man, 

The which to solve would be to realize 

A higher and a happier estate — 

These problems all will come to be reduced 

To one, and to its all important cause. 

V 

Then wisdom will perceive that what retards 

The rapid progress of the human race, 

Is nothing other than the character 

Of brutish beasts which still inheres in Man. 

VI 

The higher Natures, by superior power. 

In time might leaven all the human race, 

Except that strongly matched and counterpoised. 

Against this power of the better few 

Are numbers numberless of brutish beasts 

Who wear the form and bear the name of man; 

And these unfortunately reproduce 

Their own degraded like in such excess 

That, freely mingling with the higher types, 

They keep the moral mien so sadly low 

That all inventions and discoveries. 

And all improvements in the world's affairs, 

Are little felt, if ever felt at all. 

By those who mostly need to be improved. 



THE COSMOS 97 

VII 

And so the social question means to-day 

Substantially the same as e'er it meant. 

For still the highways swarm with vagabonds, 

And renegades from moral purity. 

Some are apostates from the better ways, 

But most are reprobates by heritage. 

And every city has its awful slums; 

And every town is flanked with hovels mean; 

And every village has its denizens; 

And in the rural walks is wretchedness; 

And in the regions farther still remote, 

Upon the wilds of prairies broad and bleak. 

And in the depths of forests dark and weird, 

The miserable haunts of men are cursed 

With ignorance, and poverty, and crime. 

VIII 

In all the walks of life from low to high, 

We meet with tvery type of villainy, 

With slander, larceny, adultery, 

With trespass, rapine, murder, treason dire; 

And gloomy prisons every where abound 

Through whose grim bars unnumbered faces leer, 

Repulsive faces, (human though they be) 

With beastly features still perceptible, 

While beastly instincts dominate their souls, 

And beastly — even fiendish — characters 

Amalgamate with those superior. 

And thus degrade what Nature has evolved. 

IX 

And although every region is supplied 
With prisons awful in capacity, 



98 THE COSMOS 

Within whose gloomy walls vast numbers dwell, 
Of criminals whose sins have brought them there, 
Yet still the world's accursed with criminals 
At large who practice every villainy 
Upon the better members of the race. 
And these proliferate to far exceed 
Those seeming worthier to propagate. 



Though centuries of ages have elapsed 

Since man has been accounted civilized, 

And although many great discoveries 

Have in the past been made, and although now 

The useful, fine, and ornamental arts. 

Have been developed to a high degree, 

And although histor>' brings up the past 

With all its infinitely grand array 

Of devious occurrences by which 

The human race should largely profit now; 

And though our language seems quite adequate 

For interchanging every shade of thought; 

And Man now revels in the blissful fruits 

Of these available developments. 

It still remains lamentably a fact 

That man is, morally, much like he was 

When Clio first recorded human deeds, 

To be transmitted to futurity, 

To guide the conduct of the rising world. 



Part Eight 

I 

Therefore hereafter it will come to pass, 

For come to pass it surely must and will, 

That thinking men, will come to recognize 

How very grave — how seriously grave — 

Is this enormous burden on the race. 

Then vagrants, criminals, inebriates. 

Neurotics, idiots, and lunatics. 

And all in short who have a weakness grave, 

Or any vile disease, or sad defect. 

Which it were possible they could transmit 

To progeny and to posterity, 

Will be prohibited from marrying, 

And raising children like unto themselves. 

Then any persons who are thus debarred 

From propagating their unlikely breed, 

If they should ever violate the law, 

(Ignoring or defying its decrees) 

By entering the matrimonial state 

Without the sanction of authority. 

Or by clandestine practices produce 

The vile offsprings inhibited by law, 

Will then incur the drastic penalty 

Of castigation, of necessity. 

The social problem will be satisfied 

Thuswise, but never otherwise. 

II 

One generation only then must pass 
Till ignorance, and poverty, and crime, 



loo THE COSMOS 

Will be of such indifferent concern 

(By reason of their great imprevalence) 

As never afterward to complicate 

The social problem. Thenceforth Peace will reign ; 

Prosperity will reach the multitude; 

And comfort will be found in every home. 



Ill 



'Twill then be possible to educate 

The masses of the people. Then the schools 

Will throng with children, bright, intelligent. 

Aspiring, emulating, each and all. 

In whatsoever tends to betterment. 



IV 



How happy will it be when people all 
Shall be uplifted in the sphere of thought, 
To such a high and holy altitude 
That all may, in a sweet reality, 
Inhabit one exalted social plain. 
And each will be congenial to the rest. 



No more shall feuds arise 'twixt clan and clan. 

To menace and disturb the quietude 

And harmony of the community. 

No more shall factions, intrigues, nor cabals, 

Nor dire conspiracies threaten overthrow 

To States and Nations. Neither any more 

Shall vile ambition in a Nation rise 

To crush and subjugate some rival Power. 



THE COSMOS loi 

Then frowning forts and castles grim no more 
Will flank the open portals of the State, 
Insulting finer sensibilities 
Of passersby more happily evolved. 

VI 

No more shall avrful navies curse the seas, 
Nor hostile armies devastate the land. 
The cannon's roar vv^ill be forever hushed. 
The musket rattle vi^ill be heard no more. 
The rusty, antiquated sword no more 
Will rankle in the breasts of striving men. 

VII 

No more shall tyrants arbitrarily 

The royal mace wield over cringing slaves; 

Nor selfish rulers, from corrupt designs, 

Despoil the people to indulge their own 

Propensities enormous for renown, 

And wealth, and power, and extravagance; 

Nor demagogues, dissimulating well, 

Mislead the mob tumultuous and vile. 

VIII 

No more will clergymen deal out their stock 
Of prayers, and blessings, and indulgences, 
To ignorant, confiding devotees 
Who credulously purchase golden bricks. 
To be delivered in eternity. 

IX 

And men will learn to love the symphonies 
Of music, and the shouts »f children gay, 



102 THE COSMOS 

The trill of birds the humming of the bees, 

The zephyr's whisper, and the brooklet's purl, 

In preference to the so discordant sounds 

Of drums' alarms urging on the fray, 

Of hostile bullets whistling through the air 

Of cannons' bellow, and of battle cry, 

The bray of trumpets, and the clash of arms. 

And wail of stricken ones, and dying groans. 

X 

Then prison walls will crumble into dust ; 

And locks, and bolts, and bars, will all be rust: 

And people will do right because they must, 

For such will be their choice, their chief desire, 

And courts of law from business will retire ; 

And judges will be arbitrators merely. 

To straighten out misunderstandings clearly. 

XI 

The thousands multiplied of temples grand, 
Which rise around us now on every hand. 
Erected to imagined deities, 
Where hypocrites deal out futurities, 
To Superstition's myriad devotees. 
These temples will have turned to ruins all, 
And been supplanted by the lecture hall. 
And gods now worshiped, devils we malign, 
And gospels now believed to be divine. 
Will take their places with the myths of yore, 
And haunt emancipated souls no more. 
Emancipated? — Yes, and therefore free. 
No fear of gods offended there wall be. 
All minds will be delivered from the fell 
And gh^tly nightmare of a burning Hell. 



DEC 8 mii 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



